Award-winning British actor Eddie Redmayne has earned rave reviews for his lead performances in movies such as "The Theory of Everything" and "The Danish Girl," but if given the choice, the actor would have been happy to get a minor role in the "Harry Potter" films.
Specifically, Redmayne would have loved to play a Weasley brother in the franchise.
"For years I was always like, in the 'Harry Potter' films, there was a whole ginger family, and I never got an audition. And I was like, 'Come on, it's outrageous!'" he shared during an interview with ITV's Lorraine (via the Daily Mail).
The Weasley siblings cast included Ron (Rupert Grint), Harry's future wife Ginny (Bonnie Wright), twins Fred and George (James and Oliver Phelps), Percy (Chris Rankin) and Bill (Domhnall Gleeson).
Given his striking red hair, Redmayne actually thought that he was a shoo-in for a role, but an offer never came.
"So I was desperate. Every actor in England was in the 'Harry Potter'films, but I never got the call. Now I'm having my moment," he said.
Of course, Redmayne is referring to the "Harry Potter" spinoff film called "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," which is also penned by J.K. Rowling.
In it, he plays magizoologist Newt Scamander from Hufflepuff, who wrote the popular Hogwarts textbook "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." The movie will follow the eager animal lover in his New York journey, where he will make new friends, fall in love, and find fantastic creatures.
It will be set decades before Harry Potter and his best friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger even stepped foot in Hogwarts, so fans should not expect any appearances from the characters.
Redmayne is such a huge fan of Rowling and her books that he was actually starstruck when he first met her. At the same time, he could not resist bombarding her with questions concerning the upcoming film and her novels.
He earlier shared with ComingSoon.net, "When I was prepping, I met J.K. Rowling and what's so amazing is that her imagination is so full and thorough-it's so encyclopedic of her world-we had an hour together and I sort of asked her about 800 questions so that was a lot of my wonderful research."
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" has been scheduled for release on November 18, 2016.
